


Change in the Wind

by vix_spes



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Gen, Introspection, M/M, Pre-Slash, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-14
Updated: 2015-12-14
Packaged: 2018-05-06 16:37:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5424251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As he and Temeraire leave Russia to return to England, Laurence finds his thoughts focused on one John Granby.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change in the Wind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crazy_Dumpling](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crazy_Dumpling/gifts).



> endymionic, I loved writing this and I hope that you enjoy it! Huge thanks to slightlytookish for all of the handholding, cheerleading and the beta!

Laurence was completely unprepared for the wave of emotions that crashed over him as Temeraire shot out of the bank of clouds and the coastline came into view.

England.

It had been so long, five long years, since Laurence had been back. So much had happened since he was last here. Really, if he thought about it, it was as though too much had happened. Too much for five years. His incarceration, spending three months away from Temeraire, leading the campaign against the irregulars and the Battle of Shoeburyness. That, of course, had been followed by the exile of Laurence and Temeraire to Australia and the eight month voyage it had taken them to get there. Laurence being restored to the list and the detour to Brazil.

All of that somewhat paled in comparison to the feeling of bewilderment and confusion he had felt upon being stranded in Japan with no memories of the last eight years. He had still been without them when they had ventured into China, both the aviators and the dragons tiptoeing around him and had barely had his memories back when the formation had left for Gibraltar and Laurence and Temeraire had left for Russia.

In truth, it was too much to have happened to one person. Even to a man in His Majesty's service in a time of war. It was almost unfathomable that it had all happened to him. But now, the travelling was hopefully over. At least for a while. Temeraire hugged the coastline as they headed for the White Cliffs of Dover and the covert there. Jane Roland was still admiral in charge there and the last correspondence he had had from Granby had said that the formation was there.

They hadn't had much opportunity for correspondence, not since the formation had left for the Peninsula while Laurence and Temeraire headed north for Russia with General Chu. Laurence didn't even know which way the formation were taking to get to the Peninsula so it wasn't even as though he could send a messenger in even their general direction and that was without taking into consideration that he and Temeraire were flying over 3000 miles of barren Chinese and Russian countryside.

As promised, Mei had been sending updates on the progress of Temeraire and Iskierka's egg and, having found someone who could copy the sketches, they had sent the updates on to Iskierka at the Peninsula. They hadn't truly been sure that any of their letters had made it to the formation, if the formation had made it through the campaign on the Peninsula until they had been released from their duties in Russia.

It had been a long hard campaign throughout the harsh Russian winter and they had lost more than they would have liked, both men and dragons. It had only been once they were returning to England that the messengers from the Peninsula were able to catch up with them, bringing the news that the whole formation had made it through the Portugese campaign and were going to return to England. That news had filled both Laurence and Temeraire with relief. Neither of them had wanted to contemplate the possibility that some of their friends might not make it through the campaign; they had lost far too many friends already.

If anything, Laurence was more excited to see the formation than he was to see England. In truth, it was rather difficult to consider England anything but the place where he had been born. By the time he had got Temeraire, he had been at sea for the better part of twenty years and he certainly felt more at home on the deck of a ship out even on the back of Temeraire than he ever had at his parents home. Now though, without a ship to call his own, he supposed that Temeraire was home. What he was certain about was the fact that the formation was his family. Albeit a rather strange family that included numerous dragons. Not necessarily family that he hear chosen, but family nonetheless.

But then there was Granby.

If he was truly honest with himself, he was most excited to see Granby out of anyone. He wasn't quite sure when it had happened, but whilst they had been in Russia and there had been time for his own thoughts, he had found them lingering more and more on the younger aviator. And lingering not just on the man himself but more about the way that Laurence felt about him. Really, it was all Temeraire's fault that Granby was constantly in his thoughts. Well, not really. Granby was often in his thoughts. It was, however, Temeraire's fault that Laurence was thinking about him as more than a friend.

**FLASHBACK**

“Laurence, you don't really want to marry Mrs Pemberton, do you?”

The question startled Laurence, having come seemingly out of nowhere. In all honesty, he had thought Temeraire to be asleep seeing as they finally had the opportunity to rest.

“What on earth makes you ask that, my dear?” Laurence set aside the papers that he had supposedly been reading but, in actuality, had simply been staring at and turned to look at Temeraire as best as he could.

“Well, you were spending an awful lot of time with her in China before we came here and everyone kept saying how strange it was that you didn't have a wife. Or even more than one woman. Even Mei said so. Harcourt married Captain Riley. Churki is always talking about Hammond marrying and having children. And Iskierka wanted Granby to marry the Incan Empress even though if anyone was going to marry her it should have been you.”

Laurence rubbed a hand over Temeraire's flank. “I was never going to marry the Incan Empress, even if she had wanted me. And you needn't worry, I do not think I shall ever marry, not really. Had I stayed in the Navy I may well have. After all, I was engaged to Edith but I never really thought about it once I was transferred to the Corps.”

“So it is my fault that you're not married. If it weren't for me you could be happily married with children and still a Naval Captain.”

“Of course it's not your fault Temeraire. Even if I weren't in the Corps, there was no guarantee that Edith and I would have married. She may have decided against marrying a Naval man, you never know. As for now, have no fear, you are not stopping me from marrying. I don't want a wife. As I think I've told you before, I do not see how it is possible to have both a dragon and a spouse. It would be almost impossible to satisfactorily divide my attention between the two. Besides, I am more than happy with it being the two of us, my dear.”

Temeraire's response was to nuzzle at Laurence's shoulder somewhat mournfully although he didn't say anything. When silence reigned once more, Laurence picked up the papers again, thinking that this time he had fallen asleep, only for Temeraire to speak again.

“Whilst I am more than happy with just us and I would not truly want to share you with anyone, I suppose that, if I did have to share you then Granby would be my first choice. Surely that is the most logical choice, is it not?”

Laurence choked on air, coughing and spluttering in shock at what he had heard. What he was afraid that other people might have heard. “Temeraire!” He hissed, “you can't say things like that, not when other people could hear.”

“Oh. Well I'm quite sure that no-one is listening and it does make sense, does it not? After all, you know that Granby likes men and he is rather good looking.”

“Temeraire!” Laurence didn't have to see himself to know that he was blushing hotly. “You shouldn't say things like that. And besides, Granby and Little are … well, they're together.”

“No they're not. They … oh, how did Iskierka put it? They have an arrangement. When they're in the same place, they're together and when they're not, they're not. But what does that matter? You'd be far better for Granby than Little would be. And it would be nice to have Granby around more”

“Is this all a ploy to get Granby back, Temeraire? Because you can't, dear one, he's Iskierka's captain now.” Laurence wouldn't put it past Temeraire. Losing Granby to Iskierka had never truly sat well with him.

“I know that!” Temeraire grumbled, “and it's not, I promise. I just think that you and Granby could be happy together and I want you to be happy. Will you promise me to at least think on it?”

Laurence smiled, petting Temeraire affectionately. “I promise, I'll think on it.”

**END FLASHBACK**

And therein lay Laurence's problem. He may have only made the promise to placate Temeraire but, once he'd started thinking about it, about the prospect of himself and Granby together, he had been unable to stop.

They might not always have had the easiest of relationships and a far from smooth start but there was no denying that Granby was one of Laurence's closest friends. Only, now, Temeraire had Laurence thinking about the possibility of whether there could be more there than just close friendship.

Laurence's relationship with Granby had always been different right from the beginning compared to those that he shared with the other aviators. He'd always been much closer to Granby than he had been to anybody else; Granby was the only aviator to call him by his Christian name. Even Jane Roland referred to him by his surname and he'd had been in a relationship with her, however brief! Their relationship hadn't always been this simple however. It had evolved over the years, taking time to become what it currently was. They had gone from Granby being Laurence's reluctant subordinate and openly hostile towards him when Laurence had first joined the aviators to Granby setting aside his grievances and becoming Laurence's loyal lieutenant. It had been Granby who had guided Laurence through those rocky, early days in the Corps when he was struggling to find his footing. Finally, when Iskierka had hatched and claimed Granby as her captain, they had become equals although the friendship had long been established by that point.

Laurence had never really considered being with another man, had never found his thoughts drifting to other men. Oh, he had known of plenty of men who had – after all, in the navy men were stuck on-board ship for months at a time with no women in sight – but he had never been tempted. In all honesty, he had never really even paid it that much thought. At least until the moment in Cuzco that Granby had admitted that he was an invert, followed swiftly by Iskierka's revelation that Granby and Little were involved.

He'd found himself scrutinising the two of them, trying to spot anything that might give away the fact that they were more to each other than just colleagues but there was nothing. There were no lingering touches, no excessive staring, Laurence never even saw them kiss. If Iskierka had never let the information slip, Laurence might have known that Granby was interested in other men but he certainly wouldn't have known about Little.

It did make him wonder though. What was it like to kiss a man? How different was it to kissing a woman? What was it like to be more intimate than kissing? Would it be any different to have the calloused hands of a male aviator on him as opposed to those of Jane Roland? Granby was already physically affectionate with him in the form of hugs but what would it be like to have more than that?

Laurence's mind was on overdrive. It seemed as though, whenever he wasn't dealing with the Chinese dragons, or the Russians for that matter, his thoughts were on Granby and it was proving to be more than a little distracting.

To his relief - and amazement - Temeraire had managed to restrain himself and hadn't pestered Laurence about Granby. He seemed to understand that Laurence needed time to process everything, to work out how he felt about things. He had asked once but had agreed - only somewhat reluctantly - to Laurence's request that he was allowed to not make a decision until he saw Granby in person. Now, with the sea and the white cliffs behind them, Dover to their right and the covert looming in front of them, that moment was fast approaching.

As they dropped into the covert, they could see the rest of the formation waiting for them, both aviators and dragons. A truly welcome sight to both Laurence and Temeraire. Upon landing, Temeraire was almost immediately swallowed up by the dragons, all of them asking a multitude of questions about the Russian campaign with, of course, the exception being Iskierka who, from what Laurence could hear, was talking about herself. And then Laurence's attention was diverted as he was surrounded by aviators.

He greeted Jane Roland first, as was her due as admiral of the covert before turning his attention to the others. He greeted all of them, starting with Harcourt, absently noticing as he did so that Little and Granby were stood as far from each other as they could be. Maybe Temeraire had been right after all. Unconsciously, or maybe consciously – he wasn't sure - , Laurence had left Granby for last. Granby was also the recipient of a very different greeting to the rest of the captains. Harcourt, Berkley, Little, Chenery, Warren and Sutton had all received a simple handshake, no matter how warm, and maybe a clap on the shoulder. With Granby, nothing quite so reserved.

Laurence barely had the chance to quickly run his eyes over Granby's body and note no visible new injuries with the exception of the rather rakish scar that now decorated Granby's left cheek before he was being tugged into a warm embrace. He stiffened momentarily before relaxing, bringing his own arms up to wrap around Granby. He'd forgotten how strong Granby was, even having lost his hand, but the pressure was welcome nonetheless. It was proof that he was truly, finally, back.

Knowing that he couldn't linger overlong without arousing suspicion, Laurence still let the embrace continue longer than he would usually. He couldn't help but notice the way that Granby smelt, the way that his arms felt around Laurence, the way that Laurence's arms felt around him. The way that it felt … right. He was going to do this, he was going to make a play for Granby.

Laurence had promised Temeraire that he would consider a change in the relationship between he and Granby but that he wouldn't commit to a course of action until he had seen Granby face to face once more and Temeraire had agreed, albeit reluctantly. Now that he'd made a decision, he had the feeling that Temeraire knew somehow. Even now, Laurence could feel the dragon's gaze on them and thanked his lucky stars that Temeraire was nowhere near as smug as Iskierka when he was proven right. Now that he'd seen Granby and he knew what he was going to do, Laurence was prepared for the change in the wind.

It may be daunting but, he'd learnt to ride the wind before; he could handle a little change. Especially if it brought him John Granby.


End file.
